Note: You need to enable scripting and Javascript in your browser settings to best view and navigate our website. Otherwise, use our keyboard navigation and search page. For keyboard tabbing on this page you can bypass the top menu bar navigation and jump to the page sidebar navigation (if applicable), or jump to the page body. Our print link for screen media is scripted. Your computer's normal print command will print this page. Please contact us if you have difficulty in accessing our web pages.

The
mission of the Alaska Fisheries Science Center is to plan, develop, and manage
scientific research programs which generate the best scientific data available
for understanding, managing, and conserving the region's living marine resources
and the environmental quality essential for their existence.

With a staff of approximately 400 men and women, the Alaska Fisheries
Science Center conducts field and laboratory research to help conserve and
manage the region's living marine resources in compliance with the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1996, the Marine Mammal Protection
Act of 1972, and the Endangered Species Act of 1973.

Center scientists compile
and analyze broad databases on fishery, oceanography, marine mammal, and environmental
research. These data are used to develop policies and strategies for fisheries
management within the U.S. Exclusive Economic
Zone, monitor and assess the
health of the region's marine mammal populations, and develop the scientific
understanding and predictive methodologies needed to implement NOAA Fisheries'
ecosystem approach to management. In
addition to ongoing survey and assessment activities, the AFSC is engaged in
cutting-edge research on emerging issues such as global warming and the loss
of sea ice in the Bering Sea.

The primary responsibilities of the Center are to provide scientific data
and analysis and technical advice to the NMFS
Alaska Regional Office, North
Pacific Fishery Management Council, state of Alaska, Alaskan coastal
subsistence communities, and U.S. representatives participating in international
fishery and marine mammal negotiations, as well as the fishing industry
and its constituents. The Center also coordinates fisheries and marine mammal
research with other Federal and state agencies, academic institutions, and
foreign nations.